2nd Week in LentRCIA Sessions for February 25 & March1

CALENDAR: Pentitential Rite, Feb 24 & 25 for Candidates

The Penitential Rite for candidates happens only once: it will be February 24 & 25 at the 7 pm, 10 am, 12:30 pm, and 3 pm Masses. Come more than 15 minutes early to sign-in and find a seat.

MARCH 3 RCIA RETREAT: For RCIA Families the Retreat will be 9:00 am to 12:30 pm on March 3 in the Cafeteria. For RCIA Adults the Retreat will 9 am to 5 pm in St. Augustine: bring the food you signed up to bring.

RCIA Sessions on March 1 will begin in the normal rooms at the usual times. After a 1/2 hour of class on March 1, there will be a Spanish Walk thru the Mass in Church and an English Walk thru the Mass in the Chapel.

RCIA Sessions on March 8 will begin in the normal rooms at the usual times. At 8:30 pm on March 8 the evening will conclude in Church with the minor rite, Presentation of the Creed.

PRACTICE THE FAITH: Listen to Him

Strengthen your commitment to prayer. Even when prayer seems "dry" - that nothing is "happening" when you pray - stick with daily times and places of prayer. Try to quiet yourself and allow God to speak to you about your life.

USEFUL RESOURCES/PARISH EVENTS:

Stations of the Cross - every Friday in Lent at 6:00 pm in the Church - by the Youth Group

CRS Lenten Resources for Families and all Believers: if you search this website you can find a Stations of the Cross, Weekly "stories of hope" from different countries, a Lenten Calendar of activities, a digital retreat, a phone app and more!

CONNECTIONS: Listen to Him

Often when we hear this Gospel about the Transfiguration we are caught up in the wonder and awe of this "mountaintop experience" - and rightfully so, this is undoubtedly what God intends. However, there is a danger if we allow ourselves to be consumed by seeking these experiences. During times when "nothing seems to be happening" - the times when prayer or our life of discipleship is dry, maybe boring - God works powerfully to bring us to Himself in a different way; what is required in these times is our perseverance and our trust. Other times we suffer greatly, not just in prayer, but in all of our daily existence: in these times God is closer to us than ever, and holds us up, though we often feel lost and forsaken. Jesus himself had all these experiences. We know he went away to pray. We know that sometimes he was interrupted from his prayer. We know God heard him. But we also know how forsaken he felt in the Garden of Olives and on the Cross - through the time of temptation in the desert and in the court of Pilate - how alone he must have felt when even his closest disciples did not understand who he was. There is a line from an old popular Christian song that said, "Your most awesome work was done in the frailty of Your Son." So, too, in us.

Perhaps this week we accept and relish the great promise of resurrection that we find in the Transfiguration: but even more, let us dwell on what God thundered from the cloud, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him." - and set our intention firmly to continue, no matter what, to seek and to find Him, with total confidence in the Life which He has chosen for us.